Are university classes HUGE or are they like high school sizes? And do the teacher's teach you ?

Question

im just curious..im in grade 10 right now..and i want to get into university waterloo.. i heard that unviersitys only accept averages with 80% and up? what if u had like 73% average in grade 12?? will they accept you???

Answer 1

hey man! hows that steak fire on the barbie.. LOL

okay.. so university.. some of my classes were huge, 250ppl...

aim for the higher average, 73 might do it but the higher the better..
so that means laying off the beer and hitting the books ;) i know, i know, but trust me, its worth it in the end!

yeah they teach you.. but its up to you to keep up to them in notes and/or typing... on an individual basis, welll... not often, but as a group.. yep!

Answer 2

Haha - I went the University of California at Berkeley. My Chem 1A class had 800 people. No kidding, 800. The lecture hall was bigger than any movie theater I've ever been to, including the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It had a rotating stage and 3 whiteboards, each over 30 feet long. During the lecture there was a TA standing there the whole time, just erasing one board as the Prof wrote on another (you had to copy fast). Then I found out another 300 kids had enrolled in video replays of the lecture, because the hall was too small for all the incoming freshman.

Luckily, they break the class into TA groups lead by graduate students. The TA classes will be about the size of your high school classes - at most 25 kids. Also, as you start getting into the upper division the classes get smaller, but I remember one medieval history class I took as a Junior that still had 150 students.

BTW, the chem class was based on a straight curve - 10%A, 20%B, 40%C, 20%D, and 10%F. Your TA did grade your homework, but he/she didn't write it, nor did he/she have any input on the midterms and final. The final was 40% of your grade. It was an eye-opener: No one cared if I went to class, didn't matter how much I tried or the TA liked me, the Chem professor had no idea who anyone was, your grade really came down to the final (one test) and it was based on a straight curve.

Which is why, if you're at the lower end of the 80% accepted, you're going to have a hard time. Look at it this way: If you were in the top 85% in your class, you'd be in the bottom 25% in the whole university. It is painful going from the top to the bottom. Good news is that you will learn to study and succeed in that environment, or you'll go home. Dem's the facts.

Answer 3

Yeah not sure about waterloo, but most uneversity classes are large, esp intro classes,. some of the more advanced classes are smaller. And there is something to a ta or something simmalar to teaching the classes, but more times than that they are there to proctor and sometimes grade the tests. AS far as the 80% I would probably say it depends on enrolment for the year. I expect that if they had a smaller class they may broadent he requirements. But if there are a lot trying to get in It might be harder. I would suggest doing the best you can to get at least the required 80% or better.

Answer 4

My classes ran the gamut from 20 students to 400 in a class. The class size was never a problem. You attend lecture and listen to what the professor wants to cover. Then you attend small group meetings with the teaching assistants (graduate students) and then you have office hours available for the teaching assistants and for the professor There is plenty of opportunity for help from the teachers if you apply yourself. In addition you can form study groups with your classmates. Don't let class size influence you if your college of choice has the arrangement I just described. The difference between success and failure lies (lays?) in realizing that nobody's going to wait up for you. You have to stay on top of the material or even ahead when possible and know your resources and act early if you're having trouble.

Answer 5

Some of your general education classes, which are required of all students, will be quite large. By the time you are in your senior year some of the classes in your major may be quite small.

Although technically your classes will be taught by college faculty, at a large university many freshman classes are actually taught by graduate students (those who are enrolled for advanced degrees.) You cannot count on a teacher being able to help you outside of class but most colleges have a learning center where you may receive tutoring.

You need to really work on your grades to be admitted to a university. You may wish to start at a community (2-year) college where admission standards are not as high.

Answer 6

Some general classes have 70-100 people

The professor lectures - it's up to the student to learn and care to learn

Answer 7

It really depends on what classes you take. I was in medical terminology, and 20 people were in there. Chemistry had 300 people in a huge auditorium and like 5-6 teachers. You can get into any college really, meaning a local university. They only care about getting money, your job is to pass and they still have your money. So, of course you can get into college.

Answer 8

Entrance requirements vary by school. Don't expect teachers to be great - a lot aren't. It's up to you to figure out what's useful in what they're saying. Could' be why classes get smaller in later years.

Answer 9

maybe just depends on the university